Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Get out of my way, missy.

We started out yesterday morning with a trip to visit Abbey at the cemetery. And yes, it is as sad as it sounds. No parent should ever have to do this. But we do. On our way home, we stopped at a playground located on our former street. Can you believe that Rich and I lived on the same street as an elementary school, two playgrounds and playing fields and we moved? What were we thinking?

Upon arriving at the playground, we parked the van, unloaded the girls and proceeded to hold their hands on the walk through the parking lot (with broken glass.) I scanned the playground as we entered it to assess the situation. Two girls. Two mothers. Nice. Well, all of a sudden one of the girls starts yelling something about 'no, go away' and 'this is ours.' You get where this going. The mother calls out, "It's okay, Alexa. The babies can play here too."

Alright, the girls are small. They are tiny. We hold their hands in parking lots. But they are. not. BABIES. I was immediately annoyed.

There were two climbing structures and we started playing on one of them with the girls. Well, Miss Bossy Pants decides to come storming over, climb the stairs and get all up in my face to tell me (in her baby voice, no less) that this is her castle and we can't play there. Rich and I ignored her and she eventually stormed back over to the other "castle."

As I was helping the girls climb the ladder to the second structure, Miss Bossy Pants ran up the stairs to stand on the platform and shout that we couldn't go up there. I told her that we were invaders and taking over her castle. Her mother FINALLY came strolling over to say, again, that the babies could play here too.

Within ten minutes, several other children arrived at the playground and Miss Bossy Pants finally left us alone. Now, I understand that parents of multiples or multiple children have a bit of an advantage when it comes to teaching how to share. A child with no siblings has to learn how to share while multiples simply have to share. No questions asked. This girl was beyond sharing. She was plain old obnoxious and her mother did very little parenting.

I overheard the mother talking and discovered that Alexa is five years old. I also noticed that the other girl "playing" with her never said anything. She simply kept her mouth shut and followed Alexa's orders. At five years old, this child must be in kindergarten. Is she the classroom bully?

So later that night, the girls and I talked about Alexa and her bossy ways. It was actually quite amusing to watch the girls reaction to her shouting. They just stared at her like she was crazy. I told them that the next time that happens, they need to respond with, "Get out of my way, missy."

After nap, we made a trip to the grocery store as a family. I had the three girls in one shopping cart and some woman stopped me to ask about the girls. I actually liked talking with her. I found her to be genuine and was touched when she told me that I was special. And no, she wasn't an old lady.

I wanted to mention that as we were waiting in the check-out line, there was an announcement over the speaker system. "Emily, please dial 343." You should have seen Em's face. She was looking around and kept asking, "What was that?"

The girls were able to enjoy some outside play time which went fairly well until they started to wander too much and then Anna fell in the driveway and whacked her head. I was looking at Allie and didn't see it happen but based on where she fell and where she was before I looked away, I suspect she was running.

Here are some pictures of Allie. Doesn't she look like she's in a soccer game?

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And Anna. (I have to admit that I adore this first picture.)

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

(The can was empty. They are obsessed with trying to drink my soda.)

Em and Allie.

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Em is showing me her "cast" - also known as a cardboard roll. And how does she know what a cast is? BARNEY.

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12 comments:

Crista said...

Wow, they're getting so big!
I was at my sister's house the other day and my 5-year old niece told my other niece and nephew "Get out of my room. I don't want you in here." Right in front of me, the little bugger! So I told the little brat that SHE needed to get out, and I was going to play in HER room, with HER stuff, with the other kids. LOL, she didn't like that!
Later, her big sister came out of the room dragging lil brat by the arm and told their mom "She's being mean to the other kids." So she got to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting on the floor by mom.
Next time I'll just tell her "Get out of my way Missy!" LOL

pyjammy pam said...

love their shirts in the pics!

JEN said...

It sounds like a lovely day despite miss bossy. I find that girls of that age are bad with my Vi too. They want to "mother" her which involves taking things from her that she is chewing on and slapping her hands and such. And it drives me crazy!

Helen said...

I just love the clothes you dress your girls in! They always look so adorable :)

I used to have the same triplet/sharing theory you did until we did a playdate with some other triplets who are TERRIBLE at sharing. My boys looked totally bewildered by these kids and didn't quite know what do when toys were stolen from them.

Kara said...

Those shirts are so cute! Where did you get them? Your girls are precious!

Hope's Mama said...

Yep, I know how sad that is too, Sarah. I wish we didn't have to. It is so many levels of wrong.
And as always, the girls are so darn cute.
xo

Meluch+3 said...

Cute pictures. Gotta love Barney!

mrsgingergrl said...

The last picture is adorable and made me laugh out loud - such a funny age.

We visit Jack, and every time we drive by the cemetary (which is on our way home from the park so pretty much daily) the girls and i all wave and say "HI Jack!" and it hits me almost more than any other time how wrong and sad the whole thing is. Like you said... no one should have to do that.

AND(I have a lot to say today...lol) I have been there with the park situation, omg, i could tell stories. I am proud that my girls at least know how to share and treat other children! I almost got into a fight with a four year old boy once who wouldn't let Katie up a ladder... and the mothers are the worst. They just want to chitchat, talk on their cell, read their book - and pay no attention to their kids.

Ok, i'm done.

Nope - have to say the story about Emily and the loudspeaker is adorable. NOW i'm done.

Sarah said...

Thanks everyone for your comments. I love reading them.

Erin - I picked up those shirts at Target last summer during an end of season sale. They were only a few dollars each.

Kristin @ Intrepid Murmurings said...

What gorgeous pictures! What gorgeous girls!

Not sure if I have posted here before but I just wanted to say I love your blog and keeping up with your girls.

I also want to add (and I hope this isn't annoying!) that I am pretty liberal with the term "baby", especially now that I have multiple ages in the family. My big girl just seems to big compared to her sisters (and other friends kids) and its easy to slip and call toddlers babies in comparison to preschoolers and up. I really don't mean to offend, though! Truly! I do try to watch my phrasing since I know some kids are bothered by it. My preschooler is obsessed with babies and would LOVE to be considered a baby still, so that colors my experience too!

However, I do agree that girl and her mom sounded pretty annoying otherwise! Geesh!

Sarah said...

Hey sunfrog - a lot of people we know still refer to our girls as babies and it usually doesn't bother me at all. I found this woman to be annoying though b/c her attitude was almost like "they are just babies" - almost as if my girls didn't know what was going on.

Unknown said...

Your girls are gorgeous, their shirts are adorable, the pictures are amazing... I actually LOL'ed at the second picture of Anna... Her expression is just priceless.